@PhoenixSerenity I was thinking recently about some books I was given as a little kid, that were some Christian propaganda thing where the messaging behind the books were about thinking positively and being cheerful. Maybe there was more to it than that, but that’s what I remember. I don’t know if the person who gave them to me was trying to tell me to hide my feelings, but I was extremely bad at that as a kid.
Years later, this same person berated themselves for grieving a cat they’d had for 15+ years. Lots of self-policing of emotions.
This has been so tiring to be around.